# zombie comic strips **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 2, 2009, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zombie-comic-strips/498491 "2009-06-02T16:32:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jolly\_Roger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/91b2a8/32.png) [@Jolly\_Roger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jolly_Roger)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zombie-comic-strips/498491/1 "2009-06-02T16:32:50Z")
There are far too many zombie strips. I don’t mean comic strips that just ain’t funny, but ones that should have been retired. I don’t understand how some of them continue to be in the comics pages when they aren’t even relvant or funny anymore. Don’t get me wrong, some strips had their heyday, but now they’re just taking up space and keeping it from any new fresh comic strip that could be out there. (I don’t mean that for my own benefit either as an aspiring cartoonist, some of these strips boggle my mind) I realize this is only my opinion, but if I had to pick a few to be cut I’d have this list **Peanuts:** Yes, I know, everyone loves Peanuts. I love Peanuts. Shulz created more than a strip in that, it became a national icon. But he retired the strip just before his death. Why now do we see “Classic Peanuts” still on the comics page? I mean, yeah, its hard to see Snoopy, Charlie Brown and the others go, but if I were an editor I’d wonder if there wasn’t another, newer fresher strip that could replace it. **Blondie:** Is anyone actually reading it? I’m not trying to be a dickweed, I just really don’t get it. I can’t recall ever laughing at it and for Pete’s sake, Blondie is how old? Wasn’t this strip created in the 30’s? Dagwood eating big sandwiches and running into the mailman were probably great gags, 30 or 40 years ago. **Calvin and Hobbes:** I know I’ll take some heat for mentioning it, but C+H has been discontinued by its creator years ago. I wish it wasn’t, because it was an awesome strip. I have all of the books. Why are we rerunning all of Clavin’s misadventures now? **BC:** I thought _ **BC** _ was pretty funny in the 70’s when you could buy the old Fawcett paperbacks of the strips…but Johnny Hart has passed now. I know his family has picked up the torch for the strip, (reusing Hart’s drawings with new dialogue I believe.) Jeez, we can’t let it go, can we? Same for the \*\*\*Wizard of Id \*\*\*which stopped being funny about 20 years ago. \*\*Beetle Bailey: \*\* I suppose it just irks me because I’m in the army and _ **Beetle Bailey** _ is nothing like in any sense the army, even in a comic strip sense……no, its’ cuz it just really isn’t that funny. Now 30 or 40 years ago? Well, maybe then. Meh. **Wee pals:** Jeez! This strip is still in print!? I thought it disappeared in the 80s! _ **Strips I just plain can’t stand:** _ **Mallard Fillmore:** Tinsley wouldn’t have a job if not for _ **Doonesbury** _, which while old, is at least still amusing and relevant. MF is so bad that yes, it is in syndication to offer a conservative view compared to _ **Doonesbury’s** _ more liberal view. Affirmative action! Geez, they couldn’t find you know, a funny, well written strip to do that? **9 Chickweed Lane:** I started of kinda liking it, but it quickly became tiresome. **Snuffy Smith:** Should be included in the zombie section here, but I really can’t stand that strip. All I can think of is tongues every time I see it. There are probably more but I have to get back to work. Aw well, these are just my opinions anyway. I don’t mean to offend anyone who might actually like the strips I mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zombie-comic-strips/498491/2 "2009-06-02T16:40:52Z")
Are you a ['Mudge](http://joshreads.com), **Jolly Roger**? Because if you’re not, you really should be. One of us one of us one of us one of us… ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zombie-comic-strips/498491/3 "2009-06-02T16:42:16Z")
**Peanuts** and **Calvin&Hobbes** are timeless. Issues are raised that are faced by every kid. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zombie-comic-strips/498491/4 "2009-06-02T17:39:13Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > **Peanuts** and **Calvin&Hobbes** are timeless. > Issues are raised that are faced by every kid. Indeed. The Noodles Incident. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zombie-comic-strips/498491/5 "2009-06-02T17:43:34Z")
> [@Jolly\_Roger](#): > > **Peanuts:** Yes, I know, everyone loves Peanuts. I love Peanuts. Shulz created more than a strip in that, it became a national icon. But he retired the strip just before his death. Why now do we see “Classic Peanuts” still on the comics page? I mean, yeah, its hard to see Snoopy, Charlie Brown and the others go, but if I were an editor I’d wonder if there wasn’t another, newer fresher strip that could replace it. Agreed. For a newspaper to run “Classic Peanuts” prominently on its comics page is like a network running old episodes of, say, _The Dick Van Dyke Show_ or _Cheers_ in prime time. > [@](#): > > **Blondie:** Is anyone actually reading it? I’m not trying to be a dickweed, I just really don’t get it. I can’t recall ever laughing at it and for Pete’s sake, Blondie is how old? Wasn’t this strip created in the 30’s? Dagwood eating big sandwiches and running into the mailman were probably great gags, 30 or 40 years ago. Sorry, can’t agree with you here. For some reason “Blondie” strikes me as the least dated and most amusing of the old strips that have outlived their original creators. And Dagwood’s sandwiches will never go out of style. Kill off “Hi and Lois,” “Beetle Bailey,” “Dennis the Menace,” and “The Family Circus,” but keep “Blondie” around. > [@](#): > > **Calvin and Hobbes:** I know I’ll take some heat for mentioning it, but C+H has been discontinued by its creator years ago. I wish it wasn’t, because it was an awesome strip. I have all of the books. Why are we rerunning all of Clavin’s misadventures now? Really? Some papers are still rerunning C&H? See my comments under “Peanuts.” (On second look: “Clavin’s misadventures”? Now that I would read! A mailman and his tiger…) > [@](#): > > **BC:** I thought _ **BC** _ was pretty funny in the 70’s when you could buy the old Fawcett paperbacks of the strips…but Johnny Hart has passed now. I know his family has picked up the torch for the strip, (reusing Hart’s drawings with new dialogue I believe.) Jeez, we can’t let it go, can we? Same for the \*\*\*Wizard of Id \*\*\*which stopped being funny about 20 years ago. Thank the comics gods, my paper retired “B.C.” when Hart died. > [@](#): > > **Mallard Fillmore:** Tinsley wouldn’t have a job if not for _ **Doonesbury** _, which while old, is at least still amusing and relevant. MF is so bad that yes, it is in syndication to offer a conservative view compared to _ **Doonesbury’s** _ more liberal view. Affirmative action! Geez, they couldn’t find you know, a funny, well written strip to do that? “Mallard Fillmore” and “Doonesbury” are nothing alike (except that I don’t particularly care for either): “Doonesbury” has characters has characters and plotlines. “Mallard Fillmore” has a conservative cheap shot accompanied by a drawing of a duck, and is way more of an editorial cartoon than a comic strip. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zombie-comic-strips/498491/6 "2009-06-02T17:44:25Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Are you a ['Mudge](http://joshreads.com), **Jolly Roger**? Because if you’re not, you really should be. > > One of us one of us one of us one of us… Fruhlinger has convinced me that Beetle Bailey should always remain with us as long as each strip can be interpreted in the context of Beetle’s and Sarge’s unspoken and unconsummated love for each other. It’s a brilliant, tragic tale. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zombie-comic-strips/498491/7 "2009-06-02T17:44:29Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Indeed. The Noodles Incident. Nobody can prove that! ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zombie-comic-strips/498491/8 "2009-06-02T17:48:41Z")
Who cares what newspapers do? In five years, there will only be about five newspapers left in the US, and the comicless _New York Times_,\* Wall Street Journal\* and \*USA Today \*are three of them. Newspaper strips are zombies because newspaper readers are zombies. ---
**Author:** ![planetcory](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/planetcory/32/1032_2.png) [@planetcory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/planetcory)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zombie-comic-strips/498491/9 "2009-06-02T17:56:45Z")
> [@Jolly\_Roger](#): > > I don’t understand how some of them continue to be in the comics pages when they aren’t even relvant or funny anymore. Two reasons: Old people and money. Actually there’s a third: Editors who consider the comics page a hassle. Frustrated Cartoonist Rant: It doesn’t matter that the zombie strips are no longer fresh or funny. They’re familiar. And that makes them favorites of the older demographic, the one demographic newspapers are trying to cling on to. New comics with fresh ideas or perspectives have limited opportunities to see print and are usually the first ones to get the chop, usually because the didn’t click with their older demographic. Never mind attracting a younger one. And most comic editors rather not deal with angry old people. Not only do they not want to sour their base, but they don’t consider the comic section worthy of the effort. Unlike the early days, when comic were viewed as a means of increasing readership, they’re now looked upon as being beneath the business of _serious_ _journalism_. So instead of devoting effort and discernment to the content of the section, most editors stick with what works for their dwindling readership and toss up a poll every now and then to feign interest. No other section’s content is decided that way, especially when the results are skewed in favor of those with the time and inclination to participate. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zombie-comic-strips/498491/10 "2009-06-02T18:39:08Z")
I don’t know, B.C. has actually been a lot funnier since Hart’s family took it over. Towards the end, there, the strip was nothing but an endless succession of religious polemics, with nary a joke in sight, but now, there are jokes again. It’s still far from the top tier of strips, but it’s not terrible. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zombie-comic-strips/498491/11 "2009-06-02T18:43:26Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I don’t know, B.C. has actually been a lot funnier since Hart’s family took it over. Towards the end, there, the strip was nothing but an endless succession of religious polemics, with nary a joke in sight, but now, there are jokes again. It’s still far from the top tier of strips, but it’s not terrible. And some pretty risque jokes, too, from a pre-death Hart standard. Which means they’re about as risque as a 1970s celebrity-panel game show, but still… ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zombie-comic-strips/498491/12 "2009-06-02T18:44:35Z")
I thought we agreed not to mention the Noodle Incident. ---
**Author:** ![runcible\_spoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc29f/32.png) [@runcible\_spoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/runcible_spoon)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zombie-comic-strips/498491/13 "2009-06-02T18:54:57Z")
I’d like to say I’m very disappointed to find that not one - not _one_ - of the comic strips in question prominently feature zombies. Terribly misleading. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zombie-comic-strips/498491/14 "2009-06-02T18:56:44Z")
> [@runcible\_spoon](#): > > I’d like to say I’m very disappointed to find that not one - not _one_ - of the comic strips in question prominently feature zombies. Terribly misleading. I think you have to go to webcomics for that. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zombie-comic-strips/498491/15 "2009-06-02T19:41:20Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > (On second look: “Clavin’s misadventures”? Now that I would read! A mailman and his tiger…) Calvin grew up and became a mailman? I thought it was all up when Lio found the sled and stuffed tiger in the snow… ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zombie-comic-strips/498491/16 "2009-06-02T19:42:00Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > I think you have to go to webcomics for that. Not necessarily–there’s always [Lio](http://www.gocomics.com/lio/2009/05/22/). ETA: Dadgum **carnivorousplant** for sneaking in with a Lio reference while I was searching for a zombie strip! ---
**Author:** ![Hirundo82](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/919ad9/32.png) [@Hirundo82](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hirundo82)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zombie-comic-strips/498491/17 "2009-06-02T19:48:47Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > Fruhlinger has convinced me that Beetle Bailey should always remain with us as long as each strip can be interpreted in the context of Beetle’s and Sarge’s unspoken and unconsummated love for each other. It’s a brilliant, tragic tale. Ah, the real reason Obama hasn’t repealed “Don’t ask, don’t tell.” ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zombie-comic-strips/498491/18 "2009-06-02T19:52:58Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Calvin grew up and became a mailman? I thought it was all up when Lio found the sled and stuffed tiger in the snow… The hot gossip is that Calvin grew up and became [Frazz](http://comics.com/frazz/), actually. Although the character is not named Calvin. And the joke about the mailman was a reference to the typo “Clavin”…as in Cliff Clavern, from Cheers. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zombie-comic-strips/498491/19 "2009-06-02T19:54:23Z")
> [@Hirundo82](#): > > Ah, the real reason Obama hasn’t repealed “Don’t ask, don’t tell.” You know, if Beetle really gets jazzed by Sarge’s bodytype, you have to wonder what the sexual tension’s like when he visits his sister Lois and her Sarge-body-like husband, Hi… ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zombie-comic-strips/498491/20 "2009-06-02T19:56:16Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > ETA: Dadgum **carnivorousplant** for sneaking in with a Lio reference while I was searching for a zombie strip! Find the one in question and one up me. 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zombie-comic-strips/498491.md?page=2)